Nematode Worms (Caenorhabditis Elegans): Difference between revisions

Telomeres, the length of which have been shown to correlate with increased lifespan and delayed onset of [[Senecent Cells|senescence]] in a multitude of organisms, from ''C. elegans''{{pmid|30559463}}{{pmid|16151516}} to humans,{{pmid|32876842}} show an interesting behaviour in ''C. elegans.'' While ''C. elegans'' maintains its telomeres in a canonical way similar to other eukaryotes, in contrast ''[[Drosophila Melanogaster|Drosophila melanogaster]]'' is noteworthy in its use of retrotransposons to maintain its telomeres,{{pmid|21821789}} during knock-out of the catalytic subunit of the telomerase (''trt-1'') ''C. elegans'' can gain the ability of alternative telomere lengthening (ALT). ''C. elegans'' was the first eukaryote to gain ALT functionality after knock-out of the canonical telomerase pathway.{{pmid|16477310}} ALT is also observed in about 10-15% of all clinical cancers.{{pmid|20351727}} Thus ''C. elegans'' is a prime candidate for ALT research.{{pmid|27593554}}{{pmid|23390606}}{{pmid|27761361}} Bayat et al. showed the paradoxical shortening of telomeres during ''trt-1'' over-expression which lead to near sterility while the worms even exhibited a slight increase in lifespan, despite shortened telomeres.{{pmid|31954861}}

==See Also==